OK, we all know that Mother’s Day is a very special day— but if your mother is truly special, you want to spend it with the Music Box Theatre, Dick O’Day, Camp Midnight, and the Hell in a Handbag Players…. right?

The day is really a wonderfully campy event. If your mother has a wonderful sense of humor AND Joan Crawford, then this just might be the perfect event for you to bring her to. The first 100 attendees get their own special wire hanger!

We have arranged a spectacular all inclusive brunch at Mystic Celt before the show for $30/person from 11:30am-1:30pm . $30 includes brunch buffet, unlimited coffee, soda, mimosas, tax and gratuity (Cash bar available for other beverages!).

Get your tickets now! In fact, if you buy your tickets in the next 48 hours and use the discount code “CAMP” you can get $5/off per ticket! Just enter the code at the time of purchase!

Camp Midnight invites you to a special presentation of Mommie Dearest. The Joan-a-Palooza festivities start at 2:00pm with a pre-show featuring Dick O’Day and the Hell in a Handbag players. Join us for a Mother/Daughter matching outfit contest! A screening of the over-the-top 1981 camp classic immediately follows. Audience members will receive an interactive audience guide, and members of Camp Midnight will provide hilarious running commentary throughout the film.

Mother’s Day with Mommie Dearest is being hosted by the camptacular emcee Dick O’Day (Emmy award winning “Wild Chicago” correspondent) who has driven by BOTH Faye Dunaway and Joan Crawford’s homes in California. David Cerda, founder and lead singer with The Joans, is playwright and Artistic Director of Hell in a Handbag Productions (the company that the Chicago Reader says, “Represents the gold standard in camp in Chicago”). The Chicago Tribune has dubbed Cerda the “Charles Ludlam of the Midwest.”

A Mother’s Day Screening of Mommie Dearest with all the camptacular fun you can imagine. It’s like Mystery Science Theatre meets Joan Crawford and Ricky Gervais.

EXTRABONUS:The first 100 attendees in their seats will receive their own commemorative wire hanger!

OPTIONALBRUNCH!When you buy your tickets you can also purchase a brunch package at MYSTICCELT

FESTIVITIES, FUN, ANDPHOTOS: The best in film camp is provided to you by Camp Midnight—the hilarious and camptacular film viewing group! Meet Joan and Christina and get your pictures taken with your best wire hangers! Seating in the theatre begins at 1:40pm and the preshow entertainment starts right at 2pm.

THEFILM: A screening of the over-the-top 1981 camp classic Mommie Dearest immediately follows. Audience members will receive an interactive audience guide, and members of Camp Midnight will provide hilarious running commentary throughout the film.

I HAVEBRUNCHTICKETS! WHERESHOULD I GO? DO I HAVE TO GO TO THEMUSICBOXFIRST?
Nope! Head to the Mystic Celt! There will be a Music Box Theatre staff member on site with your tickets at the door. They will also be able to sell cash tickets (If available) to late additions.

I CAN’T MAKE IT TO BRUNCHBUTTHEMOVIESOUNDSAWESOME
Cool, buy your ticket in advance or at the door. WE have had tickets left over in the past—but each year the event tends to grow

I LIKE TO DRINKDURINGMOVIES, CAN I DO THAT?
Eesh, we are super sorry, but the Music Box does not have a liquor license. Whatever you imbibe before the film is ok. Just don’t be so rowdy that your mother would drag you out by your ear or smack you with a wire hanger.

The lavish, over-the-top Mommie Dearest is the 1981 screen adaptation of Christina Crawford’s best-selling memoir about growing up as the adopted daughter of iconic movie star Joan Crawford. The infamous book details Crawford’s allegations of years of physical and mental abuse by her movie star mother. Faye Dunaway’s performance in the film brought equal parts hosannas and derision by critics. Though the movie flopped with the mainstream public it was instantly enshrined as a camp classic and is revered by fans. “No wire hangers,” “Don’t f*** with me fellas,” “Tina, hand me the ax,” and several other memorable lines from the film have also entered the camp lexicon and popular culture.

Admission for main features and midnight films is $9.25 (different prices may apply to special presentations). The first show of the day on Mondays through Thursdays is only $8.25. Admission for the 11:30am matinee films is $7.25.

The Music Box Discount Card provides 5 admissions for $33.00 (a savings of up to $13.25; good for six months; limit two admissions per visit). Cards are available at the box office.

For showtimes, call (773) 871-6604.

Getting here

The Music Box is located at 3733 North Southport Avenue, Chicago 60613. Metered street parking is available on Southport Avenue. The Music Box is a short walk east from free street parking on Ashland Avenue. There is a parking lot one block north of the theatre at the Blaine School ($10).

The theater is near the Southport station on CTA's Brown Line and the 152 Addison, 9 Ashland and 80/X80 Irving Park bus routes.